What Is The Role Of Imperialism In Africa

The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were time periods of expansive colonisation in which countries particularly those in Asia and for focus of this essay, Europe, wanted to expand their influence. This influence was portrayed in colonies, in this time period of the beginning of the eighteen-seventeen’s western European countries were at the forefront of their influence. The plane of Africa was one of the main focuses of this period for the Europeans. The United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Turkey all had a respective representative proportion of Africa under their influence. Only Liberia and Abyssinia had been left untouched. Britain and France were seen as the most dominant colonisers, until the late nineteenth

(Primary Source) He gave a speech in 1872, June 24th at the Crystal palace, in which he describes the British empires colonies as “a millstone round our necks.” However by 1880 shortly before his death in 1881, he had changed his stance on colonies. He now almost felt it was Britain’s duty to garner control and almost give support to less developed countries, in particular Africa. This brought forth the concept of new imperialism, where countries now wanted to exert influence of colonies past the norm of economic factors. By the 1900’s almost eighty percent of the world was colonised by Europeans, with new imperialism in motion, industrialisation and nationalism was at the forefront of this European machine. There were deemed to be four types of imperialism, in which the major European powers carried them out. A colony, where a major power shows its full prowess and annexes a country, gains full control of its populous and its economy. A protectorate, where a power gains influence over another but as protectorate implies does not gain full influence as the ruler of the country is given a special status. A sphere of influence is where a country believes it has a right to gain control over the people as they are superior and it is in their power to help them, this type

They believed they were superior both intellectually and technologically. The view of African’s in this time was very stereotypical and they were often seen as ‘savages’ or not yet civilised human beings. This was view point was often shared and agreed upon by academics. The British writer Rudyard Kipling for example coined the term ‘the White Man’s burden.’ He believed it was in the white man’s right to help colonise and further develop poverty stricken countries so they can be on par with Europeans. In Kipings’ poem we get an insight into the view people had at this time “Take up the White Man 's burden- Send forth the best ye breed- Go bind your sons to exile- To serve your captives ' need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.” Upwards of this point the Atlantic Slave Trade was in motion but it was not as prevalent as it had once been. They were now seen as beneficiaries, and they often helped and fought in the coloniser’s armies alongside the indigenous troops. This is evident in the Second-Sudan war (1896-1898), when the British led by General Herbert Kitchener and the colonised Egyptians fought against Sudan, inevitably they won. This can be viewed as a way of furthering them in European combat tactics or just seen as a way to reduce